Marigot:--- The gendarmes are busy hunting for a man whom they believed stole 172,000 Euros from a bag that was in the luggage compartment of the Air Antilles Express flight on Wednesday morning.According to press reports, the money was stolen Wednesday morning on a flight that left Pointe –Pitre to St. Martin. There were three bags containing 1.2 million Euros in total, each bag had 450,000 Euros which was transported by a Brinks employee who was seated in the cabin of the plane. When the plane landed on St. Martin one of the three bags was opened and 172,000 had vanished.
Preliminary information gathered by investigators revealed that a passenger traveling without luggage spent most of his time in the toilet claiming to be unwell. The man reportedly told the hostess he had severe stomach pains. His travelling partner was arrested when it was discovered that the money was stolen as she made several trips to the toilet claiming that she was checking on him.
The investigators believe that the culprit gained access to the bunker by removing a partition.
The male passenger also asked the hostess to call an ambulance for him. It is unclear how the man disappeared into thin air. However, it is believed that the ambulance was called to aid the culprit get pass immigration control.
The gendarmes are questioning how the culprit escaped because the discovery was made while his companion was still in the arrival hall of L'Esperance Airport. The gendarmes know the identity of their suspect as he is a Metropolitan living in Guadeloupe that travels to St. Martin frequently.
The gendarmes have since arrested the woman who is believed to be the suspect's companion. The woman who is now in police custody is a diabetic patient that had to be hospitalized shortly after her arrest.
The discovery of the theft was made by the cleaner of the plane when bundles of money were discovered in the toilet.
